Building a roaring fire with newsletters

I should explain. I’ve been away getting some rays in Florida. After all, this winter has been….well, you know…

And back up here in the Highlands, you don’t leave the heating on when you are away. Unless you want to burn money.

Hence the almost freezing house.

So anyway…I defrosted my fingers and started making a fire in the wood stove.

Now as you know from your boy scout or girl guide days, getting a fire going requires a little stealth and cunning.

You don’t shove in the biggest, heaviest, hulking great log you can find then hold a match to it.

Won’t work.

Instead, you start small – maybe with some newspaper and some kindling, before adding progressively larger logs until you have a roaring blaze going and a nice bed of red hot coals. And then you can place the mega-log that will burn all night.

The same, of course, goes for your business’s leads.

In most cases, if you go for the sale right away (at least if it’s a large sale), it won’t work. The prospect just isn’t ready. Your log is too big.

So instead, you take it easy. You invest a little time. You build trust first. And bit by bit, the prospect warms up to you.

So think of your newsletter as those smaller logs. Like kindling.

“Sell” them on the newsletter (with an incentive to encourage them to subscribe), then use the newsletter to keep in touch and build trust and credibility.

When everyone else is throwing on the giant tree trunk and hoping it will burn, you’ll be the one who succeeds.